Illumination is what lets us see. It makes all of decorating possible. It is the core component of any room by its own intrinsic value. However sometimes, too much light is a bad thing. It can be harsh and glaring, and can cause a room to have an almost painful demeanor. Even when controlled, sometimes a situation or a space just calls for a more relaxed illuminated solution. That’s where ambient lighting comes in.
The darker a room, the more intimate it is. If you can’t see the other person clearly, your instinct will be to lean in, to try and close the gap. It’s human to huddle in the night, and so a dim atmosphere is sometimes the best way to bring people together.
To this end, you should consider some of the ambient lighting options that you have. The most simple and universal is probably the dimmer switch. These can easily be installed in place of traditional switches, or plugged into lamps to convert them into variable shade pieces. The control unit can be a slider, or something more subtle such as darkness, or noise activated fixtures.
Smaller specialty lights can also be purchased to help create an ambient glow. Onyx lamps are one popular lighting option. Using translucent stone, a lamp is created with the bulb on the inside. The illumination has to travel through the onyx, and as it does it is filtered by the stone, reaching the room as a very soft glow. Lava lamps, string lights, and even small globes all have interesting options for creating a soothing lighting experience.
The best way to control the lighting situation in a room is to add more lighting options. Having a variety of mood, and softer glowing lights, lets you add to the brightness of the space gradually, giving you power over the way the light shines and refracts.
PebbleZ.com has a variety of illuminated – decorative onyx lamps, which can be purchased to help create a calm, soothing, intimate atmosphere in your home. The author of this article, Jim Slate, is an artist that has worked extensively with onyx as a decorative lighting material.